Thousands of antigovernment protesters have marched through Madagascar’s capital, with several sustaining injuries when police forcefully dispersed the latest demonstration in a two-week youth-led movement.

Violent clashes erupted on Thursday after Gen Z activists called for a general strike, rejecting President Andry Rajoelina’s concessions amid ongoing unrest in Madagascar. Despite Rajoelina appointing a new prime minister and calling for dialogue, protests have continued almost daily since late September.

What initially began as demonstrations against chronic power and water outages has evolved into a broad antigovernment movement. When roughly 1,000 protesters gathered near Lake Anosy, attempting to march to Ambohijatovo Gardens, security forces deployed armoured vehicles, tear gas, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

The confrontation escalated into street violence, with protesters throwing stones after police intervention. Medical staff had to evacuate premature babies when tear gas seeped into a nearby maternity facility. At least four people sustained rubber bullet injuries, while two others were wounded by stun grenade fragments.

Later on Thursday, more than 200 civil society organisations voiced alarm about “a military drift in the country’s governance, rather than a search for appeasement and an end to repression”.

The United Nations reported at least 22 deaths in the initial protest phase – a figure Rajoelina disputed on Wednesday.

“There have been 12 confirmed deaths and all of these individuals were looters and vandals,” he told French-speaking television channel Reunion La Premiere.

Advertisement

The UN human rights office insisted some victims were protesters or bystanders killed by security forces, while others died in violence by criminal gangs and looters following demonstrations.

Protesters now demand a public apology from Rajoelina for violence against demonstrators, abandoning earlier calls for his resignation.

Despite Madagascar’s rich natural resources, nearly 75 percent of its 32 million citizens lived below the poverty line in 2022, according to World Bank data. The nation’s per capita gross domestic product has plummeted from $812 in 1960 to $461 in 2025, World Bank figures show.